You Need To Watch Netflix’s Groundbreaking New Comedy, ‘The Characters’

Last month, we told you how excited we were about Netflix’s new comedy series, The Characters. Now the moment has almost arrived when we can watch this comedically innovative show, and I promise, it doesn’t disappoint.

Netflix Presents: The Characters has a simple yet very smart premise: Eight episodes, eight comedians, and complete creative control. That’s right; these comedians can create whatever worlds they want. In this series, there is no such thing as off limits or too weird, and it’s through these nonexistent parameters that the show shines.

As indicated by the series’ name, the show is character based, meaning the comedian in charge of each episode creates and stars as a number of characters. These characters can be anything, from a creepily repressed man child to a crafty homeless man on the subway to a vulgar teenage boy. As a result, each episode feels like a little journey. You don’t know where you’re going to go or what kind of people you’re going to meet or whether anything that happens is going to connect to the rest of the episode. The whole experience is delightfully unpredictable. If the series feels like a highly produced experiment in comedy, that’s because that’s essentially what it is. As a creator, it’s a premise that sounds almost too good to be true. As a viewer, the show feels like the best combination of a late night comedy club’s raw energy and Netflix’s high production values.

So who are these creators? For the most part, the show is composed of names you won’t initially recognize, which is exactly what you want from your experimental comedy show. Perhaps the biggest creative names are Tim Robinson, Lauren Lapkus, Paul W. Downs, and Henry Zebrowski. Tim Robinson was a featured player and writer on Saturday Night Live from 2012 – 2013, though he mostly played background characters. If you’re an Orange is the New Black fan, you know Lauren Lapkus as the wide-eyed and sweet prison guard, Susan Fischer, and if you’re a Broad City fanatic, you know Paul W. Downs as Abbi’s workout-obsessed boss. Mainstream comedy fans may not recognize Henry Zebrowski’s name, but if you’re a fan of Adult Swim, you certainly will. Zebrowski stars as the protagonist of the gloriously dark and mundane, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell.

Perhaps the best moment comes during Natasha Rothwell’s episode, when she breaks into a music video featuring Cecily Strong. The song’s title? “Basic Bitch.” If Netflix doesn’t release the music video for my new life mantra on YouTube, it’ll be a disservice to humanity. And it’s during these moments — like when Rothwell is owning her basic-ness — that The Characters becomes better than a run-of-the-mill sketch comedy show. Each episode feels like a platform for that episode’s creator to unleash their full comedy force, and each episode is so jam-packed with funny moments and smart callbacks, that the series begs you to rewatch.

Also, because the series is on Netflix, there’s a good chance we may be seeing these comedians again if the series does well. Netflix has proven that it dominates when it comes to targeting and supporting great comedians. Look what the service has done with Aziz Ansari and Chelsea Handler. Both Ansari and Handler were given exclusive Netflix stand-up specials before producing their own series for the service, Master of None and Chelsea Does, respectively. Handler even has a late night show premiering on Netflix later this year. If you want less mainstream comedians, look to Tig Notaro and Maria Bamford. Netflix released the heart-breaking documentary about Notaro’s life, Tig, last year, and Bamford is getting her own comedian-fueled series in late May, Lady Dynamite.

The point is, Netflix has been known to invest and stockpile comedians its subscribers like. So if this series does well, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more creators, more characters, and more hilarious masterpieces from these very funny people. If you’re looking for a new comedy to obsess over, look no further than Netflix Presents: The Characters.